Praxis Protection Monitoring Report - January 2017

In early January, temperatures in Belgrade were dropping to as low as 15 degrees Celsius below zero. According to the estimates received from the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, at the beginning of the month about 2,000 people were sleeping rough in Belgrade, at parking lots and in abandoned warehouses (barracks) near the Belgrade Bus Station.

About 500 refugees/migrants from the barracks behind the Belgrade Bus Station were relocated to Obrenovac, out of which about 200 UASC. In the middle of the month, MSF erected 5 tents with beds and heating for temporary overnight stay for potential UASC as well as refugees and migrants with health issues. Accommodation capacity is still insufficient to satisfy all the needs identified in the field. Moreover, Hungary reduced the number of daily admissions to territory and asylum procedures from 20 to a total of 10 per working day (weekends excluded).

Praxis continued its field work in January and provided a total of 382 newly arrived refugees/migrants (259 adults and 123 children) in Belgrade with relevant information, which is a smaller number of new arrivals than in the previous period as a result of extremely harsh weather conditions.